Bauxite Map
Bauxite is a town in Saline County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 432 at the 2000 census. It is part of the Little Rock–North Little Rock–Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area. The town is named for the mineral bauxite, the source ore for aluminum, which was found in abundant quantities in the area and became a source of aluminum refining. The town's population boomed during expanded aluminum production during World War II and shrank rapidly with output of the ore.
The ore for which the town is named was discovered in the area in the early 1890s and mined by the General Bauxite Company until 1905, when the Pittsburgh Reduction Company, a northeastern aluminum refining company, purchased vast tracts of land in Saline County after learning of the high-quality ore that was being shipped from the area. The company bought out the local producers of the ore, including the General Bauxite Company. Pittsburgh Reduction would go on to incorporate as the Aluminum Company of America, or ALCOA.
Production of the ore rose rapidly, growing from 200,000 tons in 1914 during World War I, to 560,000 tons by war’s end in 1918. With decreased demand and an expanded source base in South America, Arkansas production levels fluctuated with demand, dropping as low as 60,000 tons per annum in the mid-1930s.
Nearby cities include Benton, Lonsdale, Poyen, Prattsville, Rockport.